Trials by media and courts

While military coup looks a thing of past, ousting by other means seems a reality. Middle class dissatisfaction notwithstanding, the current protest movement has a large media role in fuelling the popular perceptions against the present government. It is for everyone to see that the large media conglomerate O GLOBE and its affiliates controlling more than half of Brazil's television networks and newspapers have been waging a vicious campaign against Rousseff and her government ever since she took office again in 2014. In this impeachment game, the country's independent judiciary is not far behind the media group. Not only did a leading judge, involved in the Petrobas probe, openly participate in the country-wide protest march on March 19, another judge chose to throw away all legal and ethical protocols and privacy laws to release an alleged tape of conversation between the president and her mentor Lula de Silva.

In short, while the impeachment of Rousseff looks a foregone conclusion considering the elite gang up and political polarization giving opposition parties required numbers in the Congress, the aftermath of it is likely to be disastrous for Brazil's young democracy and its faltering economy. In the immediate term, the Rio Olympics will be the biggest casualty.

Niranjan Sahoo is a Senior Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

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